Safety of Cape's storm shelters called into question

Sunday

Jul 29, 2007 at 2:00 AM

This spring, a powerful tornado destroyed an Alabama high school in seconds, killing eight students. Could that happen on the Cape and Islands if a strong hurricane hit a large public shelter, most of which are housed in schools?

SUSAN MILTON

This spring, a powerful tornado destroyed an Alabama high school in seconds, killing eight students.

Could that happen on the Cape and Islands if a strong hurricane hit a large public shelter, most of which are housed in schools?

As with most disaster scenarios, the answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no.

Town officials and building inspectors say that the public buildings designated as shelters are among the safest buildings in the area. But none of the buildings are inspected for hurricane worthiness, leading some officials to worry about what would happen if a hurricane packing sustained winds of 110 mph or more hit the area.

"It's always a concern," said Orleans Fire Chief Steven Edwards, the town's emergency manager. "You've got a big space with no posts in the middle. Some of these buildings are 10- to 15-years-old. Their roofs were built to handle 110 mph winds. Even a Category 3 hurricane — 111 mph to 130 mph winds — has winds higher than that."

There is no requirement in Massachusetts to inspect shelters periodically for structural integrity, state and local building commissioners confirmed this week.

"The (state) building code tells you how to design and build a building. There is no express requirement to check the structural performance of the building," said Tom Riley, code development manager in the building code division at the state Department of Public Safety.

The buildings that house emergency shelters are in use continually and are well-maintained. Some were improved to current standards during recent renovations. And many of them sheltered people in 1991 during Hurricane Bob, a Category 2 hurricane that carried sustained winds of 90 mph and gusts up to 120 mph. The same buildings survived the devastating 100 mph winds of the Dec. 9 storm in 2005.

The Cape's 17 primary emergency shelters, most of which are public schools, can host up to 15,000 people as a hurricane or storm is raging outside. An additional 20 buildings are secondary shelters that are opened after the storm for people who need a place to stay.

In all, the region's 37 shelters can serve 26,500 people, according to Glen Beasley, executive director of the Cape and Islands chapter of the American Red Cross.

"Any of the buildings are going to be safer than a home," said Dennis-Yarmouth Regional Schools complex supervisor Lou McPherson, "because the shelters are built to stiffer regulations."

Since there is no state-mandated inspection, it's up to the building's owner — a town or school district — to make sure leaks haven't weakened roofs and walls.

"By maintaining the building, its structural performance will be preserved," Riley said.

D-Y schools are inspected annually.

"We do roof inspections once a year on all our buildings," McPherson said, noting the district hires an outside consultant. "The way the roofs are bound in, a windy day is a good time to check them. If there's anything loose, they bounce."

The high school as well as Mattacheese and Wixon middle schools are primary shelters in Dennis and Yarmouth.

The Nauset Regional School District relies on sound maintenance practices rather than annual inspections.

"We have not contracted with anybody to inspect the schools designated as shelters for potential for damage during a hurricane," business manager Susan Hyland said. "If you've been in any of our schools, they are very well maintained. The taxpayers here unflinchingly supported repairs to roofs and buildings and we spend a lot of money so that there is no water infiltration into a building."

The Nauset district's high school in Eastham and middle school in Orleans are designated primary shelters that contract with the Red Cross, which in turn checks the buildings annually to plan their use in case of disaster.

Beasley and local emergency managers look for spaces, including hallways, without windows and with short ceiling spans, because they are stronger. They check whether beams are wood or steel, whether roofs are flat or pitched, and whether the building is wood or brick.

"We just want to know, is it safe and under what condition. We want to preserve lives first, and not knowingly locate evacuees or volunteers in an unsafe place," Beasley said.

The Cape's shelters can house only about 10 percent of the 250,000 year-round residents and about 3 percent of the million people on the Cape and Islands during the high tourist season, Beasley said. But if a hurricane hits the area, everyone with a roof should be concerned.

"All the towns have done a great job in planning, but I worry about that Category 4 hurricane, and all the planning won't be enough," Orleans Fire Chief Edwards said.

D-Y's McPherson lived through hurricanes in North Carolina. "In a real strong hurricane, we're going to be devastated," he said. "Nothing's happened here since 1938. We have been so lucky for so long. Some day we're going to pay the price."